Supreme Court of Texas Decisions 2019
Date: December 20, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0719
Date: December 20, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0102
Justia Opinion Summary: In this health care liability action, the Supreme Court conditionally granted Claimant's petition for writ of mandamus and ordered the court of appeals to vacate its order ruling that Claimant was not permitted to depose…
Date: December 20, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0486
Justia Opinion Summary: In this attorney malpractice case, the Supreme Court examined the reach of the Hughes tolling rule and rendered judgment dismissing the malpractice claim as untimely, holding that the malpractice claim was not tolled…
Date: December 20, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0656
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case examining whether the former version of the Texas Citizens Participation Act (TCPA) applies to certain counterclaims alleged in a dispute over an oil and gas lease the Supreme Court affirmed in part and…
Date: December 20, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0737
Justia Opinion Summary: In this dispute between the Hickman Group and the Murrin Group asserting the right to control the management of Billy Bob's the Supreme Court denied the Murrin Group's petition for writ of mandamus challenging the trial…
Date: December 20, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0925
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming summary judgment, not on the merits, but based on remediable record-citation errors in Appellant's brief, holding that the record citation errors…
Date: December 20, 2019
Docket Number: 19-0306
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the order of the trial court terminating Mother's parental rights and remanding the case for a new trial, holding that Mother was not properly…
Date: December 20, 2019
Docket Number: 19-0452
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court answered a question certified to it by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit regarding what constitutes good faith under the Texas Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act (TUFTA) by holding…
Date: December 13, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0273
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals holding that a memorandum order modifying possession and child support final and appealable, rendering the trial court's later order void and Mother's…
Date: December 13, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0413
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed in part the judgment of the court of appeals concluding that a no-evidence motion for summary judgment is not a proper procedural vehicle to defeat jurisdiction on the ground of governmental…
Date: November 22, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0289
Date: November 22, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0504
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court declining to compel arbitration of class claims under the parties' agreement in this case, holding that the lower…
Date: October 25, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0428
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed in part the judgment of the court of appeals concluding that the trial court lacked jurisdiction over an administrative order because Cheryl Wallace did not move for rehearing before the…
Date: October 25, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0514
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed in part the judgment of the court of appeals concluding that the trial court lacked jurisdiction over an administrative order because Roderic Horton did not move for rehearing before the…
Date: October 25, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0521
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed in part the judgment of the court of appeals concluding that the trial court lacked jurisdiction over an administrative order because E.A. did not move for rehearing before the administrative…
Date: October 25, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0262
Justia Opinion Summary: In this divorce action, The Supreme Court reversed in part the court of appeals' judgment reversing the trial court's judgment entering a final decree of divorce incorporating the terms of the parties' mediated…
Date: October 25, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0879
Date: October 25, 2019
Docket Number: 19-0671
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court dismissed this petition for relief seeking to direct Nueces County and the Nueces County Appraisal District to withdraw and cease from issuing tax assessments to Corpus Christi Liquefaction, LLC (CCL),…
Date: October 18, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0740
Justia Opinion Summary: In this personal injury case where Plaintiff sued a state university for negligence the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the trial court's denial of the university's plea to the…
Date: October 18, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0905
Date: October 18, 2019
Docket Number: 18-1034
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed in part the judgment of the court of appeals upholding the trial court's judgment terminating Mother's parental rights to her fourteen-year-old, holding that the court of appeals erred in…
Date: June 28, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0332
Date: June 28, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0332
Date: June 28, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0332
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case arising from an offer to purchase an assignment of a farmout that fell through the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals concluding that Plaintiff could not prevail on its breach of…
Date: June 28, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0640
Date: June 28, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0640
Date: June 28, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0640
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals in this insurance dispute, holding that an insurer's payment of an appraisal award is neither an acknowledgment of liability under the policy nor an award…
Date: June 28, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0730
Date: June 28, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0730
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the order of the trial court denying Defendant hospital's plea to the jurisdiction on Plaintiff's complaint alleging personal injury and death…
Date: June 28, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1048
Date: June 28, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1048
Date: June 28, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1048
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the court of appeals in this insurance dispute, holding that an insurer's payment of an appraisal award bars an insured's breach of contract claim…
Date: June 28, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0439
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court denied the petition for review filed by the Department of Family and Protective Services challenging the court of appeals' reversal of an order of the trial court granting the Department sole managing…
Date: June 28, 2019
Docket Number: 18-1022
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court answered questions certified to it by holding that a plasma collection center is a "public facility" under Tex. Hum. Res. Code (THRC) 121.002(5) and that a plasma collection center may reject a person…
Date: June 21, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0110
Justia Opinion Summary: In this appeal of a $1.4 million sanction levied to compensate Respondents, the prevailing parties, for their attorney's fees in defending against a frivolous lawsuit, the Supreme Court reversed the court of appeals'…
Date: June 21, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0203
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals divesting the Petitioners of an interest in property they inherited from their mother, holding that the estoppel by deed doctrine did not apply in this case…
Date: June 14, 2019
Docket Number: 16-0966
Date: June 14, 2019
Docket Number: 16-0966
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals concluding that Defendants' engagement of the judicial process implied that they intended to waive the requirements of Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 150.002,…
Date: June 14, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0329
Date: June 14, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0329
Justia Opinion Summary: In this wrongful death case arising from the deaths of two motorists whose vehicle struck an unbarricaded dirt mound completely blocking an unlit country road the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of…
Date: June 14, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0443
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court conditionally granted Appellant's petition for writ of mandamus where, while an interlocutory Texas Citizens Participation Act (TCPA) appeal was pending, the court of appeals granted Appellees' motion…
Date: June 7, 2019
Docket Number: 18-1099
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court accepted two questions of Texas law certified to it from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit concerning the damages and attorney's fees available under the Texas Sales…
Date: May 24, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0046
Justia Opinion Summary: In this defamation case, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court that a Newspaper was not entitled to summary judgment, holding that fact issues existed…
Date: May 24, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0385
Date: May 24, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0385
Date: May 24, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0385
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed in part the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court affirming the order of the Texas Medical Board imposing disciplinary sanctions under the Medical Practice…
Date: May 24, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0634
Date: May 24, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0634
Justia Opinion Summary: In this guardianship proceeding, the Supreme Court denied mandamus relief, holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by refusing to disqualify counsel for the guardianship applicant due to a purported…
Date: May 24, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0724
Date: May 24, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0724
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case in which an off-duty law enforcement officer fatally shot a suspect during the course of an attempted arrest outside his primary jurisdiction, the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals…
Date: May 24, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0186
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the trial court awarding specific performance to Pathfinder Oil & Gas, Inc., which claimed a twenty-five percent working interest…
Date: May 24, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0431
Date: May 24, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0431
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the trial court granting summary judgment against Plaintiff on his suit seeking damages for an injury he allegedly sustained…
Date: May 17, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0733
Justia Opinion Summary: In this breach of contract case filed by Employees against Employer, the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the trial court and rendered judgment that Employees taking nothing, holding…
Date: May 17, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0840
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed in part the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the district court affirming the conclusions of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) that CPS Energy violated both Tex.…
Date: May 17, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0850
Date: May 17, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0850
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the decision of the trial court granting summary judgment in favor of the City of Rowlett on KMS Retail Rowlett, LP's complaint alleging that the…
Date: May 17, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0059
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals in part and rendered judgment dismissing Plaintiff's claims that a governmental entity breached a contractual promise to make a good faith effort to obtain…
Date: May 17, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0508
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the trial court's termination of Mother's parental rights, holding that the court of appeals erred in failing to review the legal and factual…
Date: May 17, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0734
Justia Opinion Summary: In this parental termination case, the Supreme Court remanded this case to the court of appeals for further proceedings, holding that the court of appeals erred in finding that the evidence was sufficient to terminate…
Date: May 10, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0365
Justia Opinion Summary: In this interlocutory appeal, the Supreme Court reversed in part the judgment of the court of appeals allowing the State's money-damages claims and its ultra vires claims to proceed against the Chambers-Liberty Counties…
Date: May 10, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0637
Justia Opinion Summary: In this defamation action, the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals and rendered judgment that the complaint be dismissed under the Texas Citizens Participation Act, holding that Respondents failed…
Date: May 10, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0071
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals finding that Petitioner waived the argument that his contractual waiver of the statute of limitations was void as against public policy, holding that the…
Date: May 3, 2019
Docket Number: 16-0874
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court concluding that an owner who tendered substantially all of the money required by Tex. Tax Code 34.21 could redeem…
Date: May 3, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0345
Date: May 3, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0345
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed part and reversed in part the judgment of the court of appeals holding that the trial court lacked jurisdiction over Petitioner's appeal because she did not seek rehearing of an ALJ's ruling…
Date: May 3, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0603
Justia Opinion Summary: In this termination of parental rights case the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court denying Mother's jury demand in a de novo hearing under Tex. Family…
Date: May 3, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0713
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the trial court concluding that Petitioner, who represented a putative class of citizens seeking to strike down state statutes and…
Date: May 3, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0925
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the trial court's grant of summary judgment for a property owner on a contractor's employee's negligent hiring claim and rendered judgment for the…
Date: May 3, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1003
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals ruling that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality does not have the discretion to deny an ad valorem tax exemption for heat recovery steam…
Date: May 3, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0128
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the district court's judgment affirming the negative use determinations issued by the Commission on Environmental Quality as to Respondents'…
Date: April 26, 2019
Docket Number: 16-0006
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that, under David v. Inwood North Professional Group-Phase I, 747 S.W.2d 373 (Tex. 1988), a tenant can terminate a commercial lease contract for the landlord's prior material breach and that the…
Date: April 26, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0498
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the trial court's decision awarding sanctions in favor of Plaintiff in this negligence case, holding that a trial court may not sanction a party…
Date: April 26, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0563
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the trial court's dismissal of Plaintiff's complaint with prejudice, holding that dismissal of the lawsuit was required because this…
Date: April 26, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0099
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals concluding that sovereign immunity barred Plaintiff's claim against the State brought after a cargo van owned by the State rolled backwards into a grounded…
Date: April 26, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0278
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court remanded this case to the trial court for a redetermination of attorney's fees consistent with the Court's decision in Rohrmoos Venture v. UTSW DVA Healthcare, LLP, __ S.W.3d __ (Tex. 2019), also…
Date: April 12, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0095
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals in part and rendered judgment dismissing all of Plaintiffs' claims against the Tarrant Regional Water District, which constructed and maintained the dam…
Date: April 12, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0509
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court finding that the holder of the executive right to lease a mineral estate violated its duty of utmost good faith…
Date: April 12, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0552
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals and rendered judgment for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, holding that the public's right to information under the Texas Public Information Act…
Date: April 12, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0901
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court overruled its decision in Faris v. Faris, 138 S.W.2d 830, 832 (Tex. App. 1940) ruling that a devisee's default is imputed to his own devisee, even where the latter is not in default, holding that Texas…
Date: April 5, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0454
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals that the parol evidence rule barred evidence and enforcement of an agreement through which Plaintiff claims to have satisfied his debt to Defendant, holding…
Date: April 5, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0501
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the trial court granting Defendant's plea to the jurisdiction and dismissing a judicial-review claim that had been filed after the…
Date: April 5, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0630
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed in part and affirmed in part the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the trial court's summary judgment concluding that Plaintiff's civil conspiracy claims were barred by limitations,…
Date: March 15, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0336
Justia Opinion Summary: In this interlocutory appeal from an order denying a city’s plea to the jurisdiction and alternative motion for summary judgment, the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals and rendered judgment…
Date: March 15, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0423
Justia Opinion Summary: In this breach of contract case, the Supreme Court held that the waiver of governmental immunity for certain claims provided by the Local Government Contract Claims Act (Act), Tex. Loc. Gov’t Code 271.151-.160, at the…
Date: March 15, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0588
Date: March 15, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0588
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court dismissing Plaintiff’s suit against Nueces County, holding that governmental immunity barred the suit. Plaintiff…
Date: March 15, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0666
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case involving a contract to purchase a business-management software system, the Supreme Court held that contractual disclaimers barred Buyer from recovering in tort for misrepresentations Seller made both to…
Date: March 8, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0058
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court in this case brought by three pensioners, holding that the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System did not violate…
Date: March 8, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0409
Date: March 8, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0409
Justia Opinion Summary: In this dispute in probate over title to property bequeathed in a will, the Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the order of the trial court ruling that governmental immunity barred an…
Date: March 8, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0660
Date: March 8, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0660
Justia Opinion Summary: In this contract dispute over whether a municipally created economic development corporation is entitled to immunity from suit as if it were a political subdivision of the state, the Supreme Court affirmed the court of…
Date: March 8, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0835
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed and remanded in part the judgment of the court of appeals holding that an interlocutory order denying a motion for summary judgment based on a claim against or defense by a…
Date: March 1, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0266
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals in this case involving the construction of an “opaquely worded oil and gas agreement,” holding that Burlington Resources may deduct post-production costs…
Date: February 22, 2019
Docket Number: 16-0644
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming an award of actual and punitive damages in favor of Carduco, Inc., a Mercedes-Benz franchisee, on its fraud claim against Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC,…
Date: February 15, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0020
Justia Opinion Summary: In this discovery dispute, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals vacating the trial court’s discovery orders that failed to recognize the attorney-client privilege, holding that Texas’s expert…
Date: February 15, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0200
Justia Opinion Summary: In this dispute by a third party claiming the benefit of a blanket subrogation waiver by virtue of a written contract with the insured, the Supreme Court reversed the conclusion of the court of appeals that the…
Date: February 15, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0189
Justia Opinion Summary: In this attorney-disqualification dispute, the Supreme Court directed the court of appeals to vacate its order directing the trial court to reconsider the merits of disqualification using the factors set forth in In re…
Date: February 1, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0538
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s denial of Sabre Travel International, Ltd.’s motion to dismiss Deutsche Lufthansa Airline Group’s tortious interference with contract claim based on preemption, holding that…
Date: February 1, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0578
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the court of appeals that the evidence was legally sufficient to support the trial court’s award of both actual and punitive damages as to all…
Date: February 1, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0636
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court that Plaintiff’s implied warranty claim was actionable only under the Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer…
Date: January 25, 2019
Docket Number: 16-1013
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the trial court’s judgment in favor of Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Anadarko E&P Co., L.P. (collectively, Anadarko), minority-interest owners in…
Date: January 25, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0052
Justia Opinion Summary: In this election contest for a city council seat the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming a sanctions award, vacated that award, and then dismissed the appeal of the election contest as…
Date: January 25, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0328
Justia Opinion Summary: In this wrongful death case, the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the trial court in favor of Plaintiff on her claim that Defendant, a neurosurgeon, was negligent,…
Date: January 25, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0463
Justia Opinion Summary: In this proceeding brought pursuant to a petition under Tex. R. Civ. P. 202 to conduct a pre-suit deposition of a website operator, the Supreme Court vacated the judgments of the trial court and the court of appeals and…
Date: January 25, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1060
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court conditionally granted relief to Houston Specialty Insurance Co. (HSIC) in this mandamus proceeding, holding that the trial court erred by denying HSIC’s Tex. R. Civ. P. 91a motion to dismiss a…
